Collete Lee, a Baltimore postal worker, thought she had the government fooled as she collected a quarter of a million dollars in both disability checks and food stamps for six straight years.
Then U.S. Postal Service inspector general investigators observed her running, jumping and riding a bike — despite years of claiming she was unable to even shop for groceries unaided. That was the beginning of the end for another Federal Employees Compensation Act scam.
FECA costs the federal government more than $3 billion every year, with the postal service soaking up 40 percent of all such expenses.
A Washington Examiner investigation earlier this year discovered the postal service paid more in disability assistance than any other federal agency, relying on supposedly injured workers to select their own diagnosing doctors, provide the details of their injuries and list any dependents and outside income.
Lee first took advantage of these FECA loopholes in May 2007, authorities said, when she filed for disability benefits from a “work-related injury” without disclosing parts of her medical history. The Maryland mail carrier hid the fact that she already had an active injury claim on file and that she’d already received physical therapy and other treatments for existing injuries, the postal service IG said.
Lee also lied to her diagnosing doctor, failing to mention injuries from at least four car accidents that pre-dated the disability claims, the IG said. She later concealed her involvement in another car crash unrelated to her job after filing additional FECA claims in 2009.
In an August 2012 interview addressing her ability to return to work, Lee denied having any injuries before joining the postal service and exaggerated the severity of her ailments. She told investigators she couldn’t open her car door or even pick up items with her right hand, needed to take breaks from driving every 20 to 25 minutes, had to ask for help with simple tasks like shopping, and didn’t have the physical capability to play with her son.
Surveillance soon revealed Lee could indeed use her right hand, drive for long periods of time, shop and play with her child. Agents observed the supposedly disabled postal worker “playing with children while running, walking, lifting, bending and riding a bike.”
Lee also applied for food stamps between 2010 and 2012 without mentioning the fact that she was already receiving disability benefits, the IG noted.
The food stamp program didn’t catch that omission of income, even though the government itself was the one providing it.
Her six-year scam netted $244,912 in disability checks and food stamps. Lee faces up to five years in prison.
But Lee’s abuse is simply a symptom of a larger problem within the federal government.
The Examiner investigation uncovered evidence that suggested disability applicants like Lee can have little incentive to leave the program once the flow of payments start.
What’s more, employing agencies and the Department of Labor, which ultimately administers FECA, have an unclear policy for sharing oversight responsibilities that allows many instances of fraud to fall through the cracks.
Between 2008 and 2011, the postal service IG recovered $83 million in fraudulent payments.
Go here to read the plea announcement.
